


Caught in the Rain

by WildWolf25



Series: Message in a Bottle Series (prompts from my ship-mate) [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Asexual Character, Friendship, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Hot Springs & Onsen, Nonbinary Character, Rain, no they don't go to one it's just set sort of at one, platonic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 04:55:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10960122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WildWolf25/pseuds/WildWolf25
Summary: “Hi, um, do you need help with your… robot car?”Pidge looked up to find a man looking down in bemusement at them.  His black hair was cropped close to his head, shorter at the undercut and only slightly longer on top, save for a white-dyed tuft that fell over his forehead.“It’s a rendition of the Mars Rover, but ‘robot car’ works too.”  Pidge said.  “And I’m okay, I just need to dry it off.  My teammates are delayed, so I just need somewhere out of the rain to wait for them.  Sorry about using your awning.”(While waiting for their robotics club members, Pidge gets caught in the rain and takes refuge in the lobby of an onsen, where they meet Shiro)





	Caught in the Rain

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt from my buddy shipthepuppy was something about Pidge getting caught in the rain and meeting Shiro (the exact prompt is buried in months upon months of Line messages, sorry). And then there was an ad for the nearby onsen across from me while I was waiting for the train. If the onsen near me can be called “shallow bug onsen” 浅虫温泉, I can call this one a dumb name like “white gold onsen”　白金温泉... Let’s just say Shiro’s grandparents were just as bad at naming things as I am and just went with translating their last name. Also I saw a post about ace!Shiro and it was asexual awareness week when I wrote this. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

A sudden, strong wind ripped across the beach, bringing with it a chill that hadn't been present earlier that morning. Pidge shivered a little and crossed their arms; the wind cut right through their flannel shirt and the short-sleeved t-shirt underneath.  Taking a moment to button the flannel up in an attempt to stay a little warmer, they nervously eyed the dark storm clouds that were gathering out over the bay. It was definitely going to rain, but they hoped it would stay away long enough for them to do their tests and leave. 

Pidge, Lance, and Hunk were on the same team in their robotics club, and they were currently competing to see which group could make the most accurate and successful robot based on the Mars Rover  _ Sojourner _ . Although, calling it a competition was a bit generous; there were only six members of the robotics club at their school, so it was really just two teams battling it out for total nerd domination. Still, they were going to crush that team into moon-rock dust.  Rover Kerberos Lionell the Fifth was clearly the superior robot (they each got to pick one of its names, but for simplicity's sake they just called it Rover, and there had been four scrapped prototypes before this one).  They were definitely going to beat the other team.  That is, if Lance and Hunk ever came back. 

This was  _ supposed _ to be a quick trip to the beach to see how Rover would work on a sandy surface (that had been the downfall of Rover the Fourth). Get there, assemble the robot, drive it around the beach for a bit, and then get back to the lab and fix any issues. That had been the plan. What  _ wasn’t _ part of the plan was Lance running into the water the moment they got there and losing two wingnuts and three bolts that were in his pocket when a rogue wave knocked him over. They spent a half hour combing the sand but had only found one of the bolts, so now Pidge was sitting on the beach with a half-assembled robot while Lance and Hunk made an emergency trip to the hardware store, praying that it didn’t start raining on their very expensive project. Maybe waterproofing should be something they should look into for Rover the Sixth, Pidge thought. Pidge lifted one end of the vehicle and peered at the underside, wondering how they could waterproof the cables that connected the camera mounted on top... 

Pidge was so busy examining Rover and thinking of adjustments they could make that they failed to notice that pretty much everyone had left the beach as a few drops began to fall from the dark clouds that had moved closer. The storm came on quickly and with little warning, in that way that storms tend to do over open water.  Before long, raindrops were pelting down from the sky, and Pidge scrambled to gather up all of Rover’s parts as fast as they could. Muttering a string of expletives worthy of the saltiest sailor, Pidge ran for the nearest building, hunched over the machinery to protect it from the rain.  The onslaught of rain soaked through their flannel shirt almost instantly, making the cold fabric stick to their back.

Fortunately, Pidge managed to make it to the awning of a large white building next to the beachfront before the rain got too heavy. Still clutching the Rover to their chest, Pidge looked out at the torrential downpour. The rain was so heavy that they could hardly see the waterline. 

"I guess our sand tests aren't going to happen..." they sighed. 

Their phone let out a chime in their pocket. Shifting Rover to their other hand, they dug their phone out. Luckily, it hadn't gotten too wet in the front pocket of their jeans. "Hello?"

"Um, Pidge, I've got some bad news." Hunk said. "You know how the check engine light is always on in Lance’s car and he refuses to take it in, even though I’ve told him to at least a dozen times but he won’t because ‘it still works’?"

Pidge had a bad feeling about this. "Yeah?" 

“Well, it turns out there was actually something wrong after all.”  Hunk sighed.  “I’m not sure what it is exactly, but I think part of the internal engine is corroded.  I can’t get into it without my screwdriver and I left that with you.”  He paused.  “Wait, did it start raining by you, too?”

“Yep.”  Pidge’s voice came out flat.  They were cold, wet, their arms were aching from holding the heavy vehicle, and they were 9000% done with this whole situation.  

“Is Rover okay?!”  Hunk asked.  Pidge could hear Lance in the background, shouting something that sounded like “ _ My robot son! _ ”  

“Rover’s fine.”  Pidge said, looking down at the robot again.  “My back took most of the damage.  I’m still going to wipe everything down, though, just to be sure.  I’m guessing you guys are going to be a while?”

“Yeah, Lance called a tow truck.  We’ll get the car to a mechanic and I’ll take a look at it with them.  Hopefully it’s something I can fix myself.”  Hunk said.  “In the meantime, I guess you can just disassemble Rover and put all the parts back in the boxes.  Stay somewhere dry and we’ll try to swing by and take everything back to the lab.”  

“Sounds good.  Well, as good as this situation could get.”  Pidge sighed.  

“I’m sorry, Pidge.”  

“Nah, it’s Lance’s fault for losing our machinery in the ocean.”

“He’s sorry too.”  Hunk said.  

“ _ Hey!  I never said was! _ ”  Pidge heard Lance protest in the background.  

“Oh yes you are.”  Hunk told him.  Pidge snorted.  

“Alright, I’m going to dry off Rover.”  They said.  “Have fun waiting for the tow truck.”  

“I’ll call you when we’re on our way back.”  Hunk said.

“Gotcha.  See you later.”  With that, Pidge hung up the phone and slipped it back into their pocket.  Casting a dark glare in the direction of the rain, they plopped down on the concrete next to the building.  They kept their back to the rain and set the machinery down next to the windows, trying to keep it as protected from the elements as possible as they started drying off any parts that had gotten wet.  Great, those wires would need to be replaced now, and the motor.  Pidge doubted rain was a problem the actual Mars rover had to deal with, but it was certainly one their Earth-bound rover had to be able to fend off.  

“Looks like we’ll be needing a Rover Kerberos Lionell the Sixth…” Pidge muttered.  

The door to Pidge’s left opened, a small bell near the top jingling with the motion.  

“Hi, um, do you need help with your… robot car?”  

Pidge looked up to find a man looking down in bemusement at them.  His black hair was cropped close to his head, shorter at the undercut and only slightly longer on top, save for a white-dyed tuft that fell over his forehead.  

“It’s a rendition of the Mars Rover, but ‘robot car’ works too.”  Pidge said.  “And I’m okay, I just need to dry it off.  My teammates are delayed, so I just need somewhere out of the rain to wait for them.  Sorry about using your awning.”  

“Oh, that’s fine.”  The man said.  “Would you like to come inside?  It’s pretty chilly out.  You can wait for your friends in here, if you want.”  

“That would be great, thank you.”  Pidge gathered up the pieces and got to their feet.  As they did so, they glanced at the window of the building and noticed the name of it for the first time.  A sign in the window read:  _ Shirogane White Gold Onsen: Experience Japanese hot spring bathing!   _

An onsen?  Here?  Pidge just hoped there was a lobby or something where they could wait out the rain.  

“I didn’t realize there were onsens here in America.”  Pidge commented, stepping inside.  The man closed the door behind them, and the rain faded into silence.  The lobby was decorated in warm wood tones and several glowing lanterns, with a few red couches against the far wall.  There was a wall of small lockers near the door, and a reception desk to the left of the lockers.  There was a door on the right wall with a red curtain over it, and one with a blue curtain on the opposite wall.    

“I guess onsens are a pretty unique thing here.”  The man said.  “My grandparents ran a traditional Japanese inn before they moved away from Japan, and they decided to open up an onsen here.  My name’s Shiro, by the way.”     
“Pidge.”  Pidge said.  “Nice to meet you.”

“So, Pidge, do you often take your robot car to the beach?”  Shiro said, the corner of his mouth pulling up in amusement.

“Whenever we need to test how the wheels work on sand.”  Pidge said.  

“Ah, so it’s not because the car likes to soak up some rays and go for a swim?”  

“Definitely not.”  Pidge snorted.  “This thing would sink like a moon rock.”  

“Is it heavy?”  Shiro asked.  

Pidge shrugged, shifting the vehicle’s weight in their arms.  “A bit.”   

“You can set it down, give your arms a rest.”  Shiro pointed to the couches.  “Feel free to have a seat over there while you dry it off.  I just ask that you take off your shoes first; the floor over there is tatami.”  

“Sure thing,”  Pidge toed off their shoes and attempted to pick them up while not dropping Rover.  “Is that what the little lockers over there are fo--ACK!”  They cut off with a yelp as Rover went tumbling from their arms, the vehicle crashing to the floor in a pile that resembled a pile of Optimus Prime’s vomit.  Shiro jumped in surprise and Pidge narrowly missed getting their foot smashed by the motor.  “Son of a-- quiznaking quiznak...”  Pidge bent down and started picking up the pieces of poor Rover the Fifth.  

“A… what is a quiznak?”  Shiro looked confused as he crouched down to help pick up the machinery bits and pieces.  

“A lot better of a word than the one I was going to say.”  Pidge said.  “Thanks for the help.”  

“Is your robot car going to survive?”  Shiro asked, looking doubtfully at a piece of piping with a long crack down the side.  

“Most of it, probably.”  Pidge said.  “It’s built to be pretty sturdy.  At any rate, whatever didn’t survive was probably set to be revamped anyway.”  All the pieces gathered up, the two of them made their way over to the couches in the corner of the lobby and set them all out on the low table in the center.  

“Do you need any help drying them off?”  Shiro asked.  “Business tends to be pretty slow on weekdays, so it’s not like there’s a lot for me to do.  And when I say ‘pretty slow’, I mean virtually non-existent.”  

“Sure, if you don’t mind.  That would be a big help.”  Pidge opened up their backpack to dig out another towel.  “The sooner this stuff gets dry, the more we can prevent rust from forming.  Oh,  _ great _ .”  

“What?”

Pidge wordlessly pulled out the other towel, which was completely soaked with rainwater.  Screw aesthetic, next time Pidge would invest in a water-resistant backpack instead of the galaxy-print canvas one.  

“Well, luckily, towels are the one thing an onsen has plenty of.”  Shiro said, standing up.  He walked over to the reception desk and pulled two towels off the shelf behind the desk, bringing them back over to the couches.  When he came back, he found that Pidge had peeled off their rain-soaked flannel shirt and was holding it up, eyeing the dripping fabric critically and wondering what they could do with it to avoid ruining the couches or floor.

“Oh!  We have a dryer for when we wash the towels,” Shiro said.  “I can throw your shirt in for you.”

“That would be great, thank you.”  Pidge smiled.  While Shiro was gone, they sent a text to the group chat labeled  _ Memelords in Space _

_ Hey guys, I’m hanging out at the onsen that’s next to the beach.  It was the closest building I could run to with Rover.  Hmu if you need anything.  Hope your car is okay, Lance.   _

They slipped their phone back into their pocket and threaded their fingers together in a stretch, popping their knuckles before getting to work disassembling the vehicle and laying the pieces out on the table.  Shiro came back just as they were examining a cracked valve and wondering if they would need to replace it or if a bit of superglue would do the trick.  

“Your shirt should be dry in no time,” Shiro said, sitting down on the couch opposite Pidge.  Suddenly he froze and stared at Pidge’s t-shirt, which featured a black, gray, white, and purple striped alien with the word  _ spACE _ above it.  “Wait, is that… an ace shirt?”

“Yeah,” Pidge was surprised he had recognized it.  “Are you…?”

“Yep!”  Shiro smiled.  “I’ve never met someone else in real life who is ace.”  

“I have, but not many.”  Pidge said.  “I find them around the hardware store.”

Shiro looked confused.  “The hardware store?”

“ _ ACE  _ hardware.”  Pidge smirked.  

Shiro groaned.  “I should’ve seen that coming.”  He chuckled.  “I would think you’d find them around the casino.  I hear they’re really good poker aces.”  

“Too far.”  Pidge laughed and shook their head.

“Really?  I thought I aced it.”  

“Oh my god, stop,” Pidge laughed.

Shiro chuckled.  “Now, tell me what an inexperienced person can probably not break, and I’ll get started drying it off.”  

Pidge snorted and handed him a wheel axle, figuring he couldn’t do too much damage with that.  They decided, after a few minutes, that Shiro ought to give himself more credit; he wasn’t nearly as clumsy around the machinery as he made himself out to be.   

They worked together, Pidge disassembling the vehicle and drying the more delicate pieces, Shiro drying the bigger pieces.  As they worked, they chatted.  Shiro asked about their project and robotics club, and Pidge asked what it was like to work at an onsen.  

“I’ve seen more old man butts than I’ve ever needed to for the next ten lifetimes.”  Shiro shuddered.  

“Ooh, yikes.”  Pidge winced sympathetically.  “So it really is nude bathing?  With strangers?”  

“Yep,” Shiro said, setting a dried wheel in the box.  “I guess it’s a more normal thing in Japan.  I’ve only been there a few times, but it seemed to be more normalized there.  Here, we mostly get New Age hippies, some anime fans, and pretty much every Japanese immigrant in the tri-state area looking for a little piece of home.”    

“Huh,” Pidge nodded thoughtfully, twisting up a corner of the towel and wedging it into the narrow opening of the motor fan to try off the interior.  “It sounds pretty interesting.”

“You can try it, if you want to,” Shiro said.  “I’ll even give you the friends and family deal, which is no charge.”  

“Oh, so we’re friends now?” Pidge arched an eyebrow at him.  

“We did just swap life stories while we dried off a robot car that looks like it got put through a blender.”  Shiro chuckled.  

“Can’t think of a better way to start a friendship.”  Pidge agreed.  “And thanks, but I think I’ll pass.  Not really into the naked-with-strangers thing.”

“It’s actually separated by gender, so it’s not as awkward as it could be.”  Shiro pointed to the red and blue curtains.  “If that helps any.”

“Believe it or not, that actually doesn’t.”  Pidge didn’t look at him as they set the motor fan back in the box.  There were two doors, red and blue.  It didn’t take a genius to see the binary thought behind that.  

“Hmm,” Shiro tilted his head, looking thoughtful.  “How about the footbath?  It’s co-ed, but there’s no taking clothes off.  You just put your feet in, and there’s a window with a spectacular view of the beach.”  

Pidge thought about it.  “Sure, that sounds good.”  They put the last piece in the box.

“We can put your box behind the counter, so it’ll be safe.”  Shiro suggested.  He set a sign on the counter that read  _ please ring bell for assistance _ , then Pidge followed him upstairs to the second floor.  Half of the second floor was devoted to a small, cafeteria-style restaurant, with a glass case full of plastic food samples advertising that they served things like ramen, udon, yakisoba, gyoza, takoyaki, and curry-rice.  The other half of the second floor was what looked like another lounge, but this one had a loose S-shaped rock river facing the wall of floor to ceiling windows looking out over the beach. 

“Wow,” Pidge walked over to the window.  “That really is a great view.”  The bay stretched out in front of them, the horizon unbroken except for an island just a kilometer off the beach, rising up out of the water like a turtle’s shell.  The sand on the beach was dark from the rain, and the gray clouds made it hard to tell where the sea ended and the sky began.  

“It’s a lot prettier when it isn’t raining.”  Shiro admitted, sitting down on a rock and dipping his feet into the water.  

“I can imagine.”  Pidge hummed thoughtfully as they sat on the rock next to Shiro.  They peeled off their socks and eased their feet into the hot water, sighing.  “Ooh, that feels really nice…” 

“Perks of working at an onsen,” Shiro said, lifting his foot out of the water and wiggling his toes.  “After a day of running around scrubbing pools, I get to come up here and rest my feet in this.”

The two of them alternated between idly chatting more and watching the rain over the ocean in comfortable silence for the better part of an hour, soaking their feet until they turned pink.

“I think your shirt should be dry by now.”  Shiro said, getting to his feet.  “I’ll grab it for you.”  

He had just taken the shirt out of the dryer and was emptying the lint trap when he heard the bell ring from the front desk.  “Coming!”  He called over his shoulder, shutting the dryer and grabbing Pidge’s flannel shirt before jogging up to the reception area. 

He found two boys standing there, one of them covered in smudges of grease and muttering how “I  _ knew  _ he was going to overcharge us, the second he said I couldn’t look at the engine with him, I  _ knew  _ he was going to do that, this is why I don’t take my car to mechanics outside of my family, they do things like try to overcharge you and tell your your carburetor needs to be replaced when it doesn’t… it’s not the carburator, I told him, it’s corrosion on the internal engine, but did he listen?  Noooo he just had to take the perfectly good carburetor apart and then had the nerve to  _ charge  _ us for it…”  

The slightly taller, gangly boy just sighed and tried to placate his friend, patting him on the shoulder. 

“Can I help you two?”  Shiro asked, approaching them.  

“I’m Lance, and this is Hunk,” the tall boy said, gesturing to himself and his friend.  “Our friend Pidge said they came here when it started raining.  Have you seen them?”  

“Oh, yeah.”  Shiro nodded.  “We dried off your guys’ robot car and now they’re over by the footbath.  If you take off your shoes, you can follow me to where they are.”  With the two of them in tow, Shiro went back upstairs, calling out for Pidge.  “Hey, Pidge, your friends are here!”  

Hunk poked Lance.  “Is that Pidge’s shirt in his hand?”  

“What the…?  It looks like it,”  Lance said.  The moment they spotted Pidge, Lance planted his feet and fixed them with a pointed look.  “Pidge, why does that guy have your shirt?”

“I have two shirts,”  Pidge told him, plucking the collar of their t-shirt and raising an eyebrow at him.  “That one got wet, so Shiro offered to dry it.”  

“It got wet, hmm?”

“Lance I swear to quiznak I am going to shove you in this water.”  Pidge frowned.  “Wet from the  _ rain _ , you bonobo-brain.  Which happened when I protected Rover from the rain and saved its life, so you’re welcome.”

“But then you did drop it on the lobby floor.”  Shiro pointed out, handing Pidge their shirt.  

“You  _ dropped Rover _ ?!”  Lance squaked.  Hunk just stared open-mouthed at Pidge like they had said they were fine with sacrificing babies.  

“Rover is  _ fine _ .”  Pidge told them, then turned to Shiro.  “Wow, Shiro, way to throw me under the bus.  I thought we had a bonding moment.  I thought we were friends.”  Pidge stuck their tongue out at him.  

“I always try to be ni- _ ace _ .”  Shiro said.

Pidge groaned and fell backward onto the ground, their legs still in the warm water.  “Your jokes are worse than my dad’s.”

“I’m a disgr _ ace _ .”  Shiro grinned broadly.  Pidge dipped their hand into the water and flicked some droplets at him.  Shiro kicked his foot through the water, splashing their legs.

“So I’m guessing they didn’t fool around in the onsen.”  Lance whispered to Hunk.  

“I’m pretty sure that’s the only kind of fooling around they did.”  Hunk said, watching Pidge attempt to wring a wet towel over Shiro’s head while Shiro laughed and easily kept them at arm’s length.   

**Author's Note:**

> I don't actually know if footbaths are a usual thing at onsens... the one near me is pretty proud of theirs, though, and it's one of the few I've actually been to, so I included it anyway. I also don't know if onsens are even a thing in America? I know of hot springs out West but not really onsens. And you usually have to wear swimsuits at those. I say "usually" because APPARENTLY some have adult-only times in the evenings where no clothing is required. We had a very awkwardly cut short family vacation in Colorado where we learned that little tidbit. Fun times.
> 
> Anyway, I'm rambling. Let me know if you enjoyed it! I have a tumblr too: wildwolf25.tumblr.com


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